Panzerfaust Review

Released: Jun 6, 1995Genre: Black MetalLabel: Moonfog ProductionsNumber Of Tracks: 7
Panzerfaust is the fifth album by Norwegian black metal band, Darkthrone. It was released in 1995 and was their first album with record label Moonfog Productions.

Panzerfaust
Reviewed by:
thegrungyhippie, on december 18, 2008 0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Sound: Darkthrone showcases the sound of pure, raw, and true norwegian black metal! If you are one who takes recording quality into account, this album is not for you. Nocturno Culto and Fenriz explained why they use low quality recording. They explain that the quality is a part of the atmosphere and feeling of the music. Darkthrone wanted to create a misanthropic and melancholy sound and achieved it very well with Panzerfaust. Nocturno Culot's vocals are mixed loud in comparison to his guitar and bass. Fenriz's drum kit sounds very bassy and flat. Fenriz says "I like the sound of my drums. They sound like complete shit." To me, the sound of Darkthrone's work gives the music more feeling and atmosphere. // 9

Lyrics: Fenriz and Nocturno Culto both wrote lyrics on Panzerfaust. The song "Quintessence" is written by none other than Count Grishnackh (Varg Viekernes). The songs "En Vind Av Sorg" and "Hans Sister Vinter" are in Norwegian. The others are in English. The lyrics talk about war, Satan, and nature. Typical black metal lyrics. The song "Quintessence" written by Varg is well written, telling of a strong person who overcomes impossible feats such as "500 women so alone in the night, I had them all satisfied" and "ten thousand trolls, hard as a rock, cold as ice, the ran when I rose to face them". Sure, the lyrics on Panzerfaust are typical of black metal, but Darkthrone are one of the essential and founding black metal bands. The lyrics give an empowering feeling to the listener. Nocturno Culto does a good job giving life to the lyrics with his howling, painful sounding vocals. // 8

Overall Impression: When I first bought Panzerfaust, I didn't care for it because the vocals were mixed loud and the music was basic. As I listened to it, I picked out lyrics and catchy drum/guitar parts. Now having grown into the album, Panzerfaust shows a powerful, stripped down, and depressive side to music, and had an impact on the black metal scene. This album is perfect for driving in the snow or walking in the woods and it gives me a feeling that most albums cannot. My favorite song off the album is "Hans Siste Vinter" with it's fast pace and epic guitar riff. My advice to someone who is interested in Darkthrone is to start with an album like Transylvanian Hunger or Under a Funeral Moon and then get Panzerfaust. The cult is alive! // 9

One of Darkthrone's worst albums, the vocals are so horrible... I can't understand why Nocturno Culto sounds so bad on this album, but on the other albums he sounds great! The production also sucks (no, I don't have anything against lo-fi, but the instruments are waaaay too quiet...)